Cause and Effect
by mick-kun
Summary: In a post-stalemate Teufort, the administrator hires a new batch of mercs to test the first developed respawn. Sniper and Scout are among the new recruits, but the friendship they form may end up as the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche. (Sniper/Scout)
1. The Sniper

_Chapter 1_

How long would it be until the diversions stopped to bother the sniper in his recreation time, his once hensive mind hindered from the time away from his scope. He had spent a long month in his parents house where they both were eager for him to stay with them. They said that they were uneasy about their son being out in the world as an assassin. Of course, Jack obliged, not wanting to upset his parents by rejecting them, and spent a tranquil month in the presence of his family.

He was back in his Australian paradise under the heat, relaxed and calm without the loud noises from other people. The month had made the snipers aim different, more sloppy than before. Jack had usually trained his aim every day, but once he entered the zone of his parents house, the big rule his father had told him was to keep the guns out and away for the sake of his mother. He could follow those rules, being as stubborn as his dad he knew he wouldn't get anywhere with him if he tried to protest and they both knew his mom wasn't too tolerant of guns in her house.

Although, it was alright, for a long time he was able to relax and see his parents, he even had the family he missed. This made him realize a few thing- there were a few area's in his life that needed to be changed. Like his mom had said, he needed to find someone to love. Not being the romantic type, Jack shook it off without a second thought.

It itched at his mind, his fingers tense on the rifle as he tried to stay concentrated on his targets, searching for something his crosshairs could shoot at. He thought about the words his mom would tell him to change because she didn't approve of his life. Deep down, it secretly upset him.

Jack gave up, lowered the rifle from his eye, and let out a long sigh. He wasn't getting anywhere with the thoughts in his head. He mused it would do him better to relax for a bit since his mind was being too strenuous. Jack leaned back in his chair and tilted his head back, letting his face soak in the warm Australian sun, further darkening his skin. _This is peaceful_, he thought for a second, _my serenity, it could be possible to live out here forever and never have to have any of these worries_. He closed his eyes,drawing in another deep breath and listened to his surroundings, hearing the wind rustle against the dry grass.

Janett Pauling sat quietly in the front seat of their soon to be medic, Heinrich Fuhrmans', black Jaguar Mark VII/VIIM. She sorted through a few papers, her expression blank as she shifted some papers in the folder to a different pattern that made it easier to read. When Heinrich saw Pauling move his work around, he frowned at her and shook his head.

"Nein, I'm mostly handling ze papers, so they are in ze way I can read them." The medic grumbles, keeping his eyes forward and to the road, hands firmly gripped on the steering wheel.

They were driving over to the Mundy's house to find Jack Mundy, the sniper they wanted to hire for the possible teams. On his papers he was listed as one of the best, but the long distance was almost enough to discourage Heinrich from hunting him down. If it wasn't for the persistent Pauling, he might have tried to find someone else. He wasn't very fond of driving through the terreran of Australia in his car, but refused to complain. They dealt with the heat by blasting the AC, but kept their mouths shut, since they both already knew that they were uncomfortable in the unknown area.

Pauling furrowed her eyebrows,and lifted her head up and turned to look at Heinrich whose gaze was stubbornly focused on the road. He practically felt Pauling's annoyed glare at the fact that he had to have his papers in a certain order.

"I can put them back when we're on the plane, Heinrich," Pauling started, shaking her head as she turned back to the papers, and continued what she was doing. "Besides, we need the papers to find Jack Mundy's house, it's only temporary."

The chatter quieted down after that, Heinrich did not want to get into an argument with Janett, fully knowing she could win any argument the two could get involved with. She was one of the more headstrong people he knew, she stuck to her ideas and did not change without a real reason, and he respected her for that. Although, both were stubborn, they had started arguments over stupid things, especially under the pressure they were to find a sniper.

Neither knew if their soon to be sniper would be willing to come with them, which made them both slightly nervous, they did not want to disappoint their commanders. They had their plans, bribing was cheap but it was their best bet on hopefully getting a new team member. The promise of new weapons and a high pay was enough to encourage people to willingly say yes, though most were hesitant at first. Heinrich was glad to already to have some of their teammates. Lucian, their spy, was one of the hardest people to get to join the team, he was suspicious, but called back after a week of bribing to say that he accepted. Then there were the others- Jane Doe, for example, almost accepted on the spot when battles were brought up.

The rest of the drive was bumpy and quiet until they pulled up to a quaint little house, two stories and built out of wood. It was cute, but old fashioned, Pauling noting that it seemed to suit the small Australian neighborhood. Heinrich stopped in front of the house, turned the car off, and sat back into his seat. He waited for Pauling's confirmation that this was the correct house.

"This seems to be it…" Janett said slowly,as her eyes read the papers and glanced up to the houses address. Heinrich, satisfied, nodded his head and stumbled out of the car, his eyebrows furrowing at the heat, regretting that he wore his coat. He strode around the car and quickly opened up Janett's door, already starting to look beat down from the heat.

Janett stepped out from the car, looking slightly concerned at Heinrich, but shook her head and thanked him with a nod. Tightly clenching the folder in her hands, she strolled up to the front porch with Heinrich at her heels, and knocked lightly.

At first, there wasn't a reply, but after a while, Heinrich leaned in to listen to what was going on inside of the house, soon he could hear footsteps nearing the door. The front door opened soon after, revealing a small old woman, who greeted them with a kind smile. She was much smaller than the two of them, surprising them both because the files had said Jack was one of the tallest of anyone yet. Heinrich cleared his throat to speak but was interrupted by Pauling, who shot him a look out of the corner of her eye to tell him that she was going to be the one talking first.

"Hello," Janett spoke, her posture straight and a friendly smile on her face. She encouraged Heinrich to do the same with a friendly nudge from her elbow into his side.

"You're Karen Mundy, I presume?" The woman in front of her smiled, still looking a little confused and nodded her head.

"Thats me." Karen said, her voice soft and her eyes flicked between the two of them.

Of course she was confused why there was two strangers that she'd never seen in the area before, at her front porch, It was an area that everyone in the neighborhood knew each other, and the two seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. Pauling shifted nervously and extended her hand out for the woman to shake, introducing herself as Janett Pauling. Janett stopped, looking up at Heinrich who raised his eyebrows when the woman's attention turned to him.

"Wait in the car, Heinrich. I'll call you if I need you," Janett mumbled.

Henrich frowned and shook his head, sauntering back to the car and slid back into the drivers seat, now grumpy. Pauling shook her head and turned her attention back to Jack's mother.

"Sorry about my colleague, he's just over tired. Anyway, I was wondering if Jack was home?" She tried to give a sweet smile, feeling the heat starting to kick in. She expected Karen to turn to call for him, but was taken aback when his mother stared a bit. Then a large grin spread across her face, and she moved in closer to Pauling.

"Are you his girlfriend?" Karen whispered.

Pauling looked surprised at the assumption. It caught her off guard, as she stumbled over her words. She tried not to laugh and chose to shake her head instead .

"No? I'm… just looking for him," Pauling clears her throat, knowing she didn't fool Karen even if she was telling the truth.

Karen leaned on the door frame while giving her a knowing look. She nodded slowly and moved out of the doorway, waving her hand to signal Pauling to come in.

"Come inside, you look hot, we'll get you some water- JOHN WE HAVE A GUEST LOOKING FOR JACK- AND IT'S A GIRL!" Karen shouted from across the house.

Janett did not expect such a loud voice to come from the same source that the soft spoken words had been spoken just a few moments before. She found it oddly funny, but didn't want them to think she was dating their son. Sadly, Pauling was sure that any amount of head shaking would fail to convince them that she wasn't. Giving up, Pauling accepted her fate as she was led into a small living room. The room was cramped, but homey, decorated with several photos on the walls that very much suited the old house look from the outside. There was an old man sitting in a chair reading a newspaper, who looked up at his wifes call and then disinterestedly looked back down to continue reading.

"Really, I'm not dating your son, I just want to talk to him about a _job_ opening," Pauling says, annoyance slowly seeping into her voice.

She figured if his mom was this desperate for Jack to find a girlfriend, then he probably wasn't too lucky with the ladies, or just didn't care. Being a sniper, she figured he wasn't around other people too often.

"A job opening?" asked Jacks dad, John, whose name Janett remembered from the loud call Karen gave him.

Janett slowly nodded, trying to give them a look that she was there for only the job and not to take their sons heart away. Her look was returned with doubt.

"Well, he left awhile ago to go practice sniping. He should be in the outback near by, lucky for you," Karen gives her an encouraging smile.

Pauling tried to not look impatient with the information. Their flight was leaving that day and she didn't want to go on some grand journey to find Jack, but it had to be worth it in the end. Though at this point it was mostly the fact that she didn't want to deal with a grumpy medic, who only wanted to go back to the base and do his work. She knew when he heard the news he was going to be pissed.

Janett turned and headed to the door with a nod to Karen, who was looking a little disappointed that her guest was ready to leave so soon. Pauling didn't want to accidentally get caught up with his mom who was most likely going to ask her to have a cup of tea, or anything in hopes to get her to stay longer.

"I really have to find him. It's… urgent. Goodbye Mr. and Mrs. Mundy," Janett said in a rush, waving to the couple as she opened the door, shutting it softly behind her. From inside Karen stared at the door, prancing back to her husband and nudged him, her expression excited.

"I hope little miss "it's urgent" is pregnant," she chirped.

John put his newspaper down quickly and returned a confused look to his wife.

"Bloody hell..."

Pauling took in a deep breath, returning to the car and opening up the door. The sudden blast of cold air surprised her, she expected the air to be on, but not cranked so high that it was actually a little chilly. The German didn't seem to mind, already used to the cold winters in his home towns. He turned his head eagerly at Pauling, and watched as she sat down in the passenger seat. Janett shook her head, her hands running over the folder, and her eyes focused on the steering wheel.

"Vell?" Heinrich persisted.

Janett closed her eyes and shook her head again.

"They said he's in the outback sniping. We're going to have to hunt him down," Pauling sighed, watching out of the corner of her eyes as the medics expression turned sour and his hand fell hard on the steering wheel. He wanted to leave as much as she did, but they both knew they were in too far to quit. Heinrich turned the key in the ignition, and pulled away from the house.

"Zen I guess the next stop is somevere in Australia- You're ze one who vas so big on finding Jack Mundy. 'No, ve have to get him even if he's in Australia'." Medic grumbled to her, his hands moving up in dramatic motions.

It was their best bet and she wasn't going to give up. It couldn't be too hard to find one sniper in Australia.

Several hours had passed before Jack realized his small break of relaxing had extended much longer than he initially planned. He sat out in the sun for awhile, enjoying all the peace and quiet. He soon realized he had lost track of time. Then again, it wasn't hard to when you had all the time in the world and nothing to much think about. Not having to worry about the troubles of life or having to focus on any job, which was something he always wanted and he was finally able to have it. As the sun started to set, he concluded that he needed to pack up and head back home.

His eyes moved to his rifle, which leaned against a cooler next to his chair where he last put it. Jack stood up with some trouble, not realizing how stiff his body could be after being in the same position for so long. He stretched out a bit, rubbed his head and grabbed his rifle. As he got ready to put his things back in his camper, which was parked a small distance away under a bare tree, when his hand went to move for the chair, the sniper stopped, his expression changing to confusion. He glanced over to see a black car moving in the direction of his camper. _What the hell?_ Sniper thought, his eyes narrowing and he hunkered down, looking through the scope of his rifle. The car was moving fast to his camper. _Thats definately not a good car for these parts of Australia, what the hell are you doing?,_ the sniper criticized, getting a little anxious the closer they got to his van.

He was unable to see who was inside, the windows tinted to the darkest they could get, but he could still easily kill the driver if he wanted to. He hesitated, not wanting to kill someone who could have just randomly found their way out here, but guessing how far out he was, they couldn't have been out here accidentally. As the car started to get closer to his camper, he decided that they were a little too close for comfort. His aim shifted to the tires, and with a single pull of the trigger, the car swerved out of its line.

Heinrich screamed loudly when one of his tires popped, followed by a large yelp from Janett when the car decided to swerve out of control. The car had been traveling at fast speed, and the sudden force of the steering wheel turning was threatening the car to tip. Luckily for the two inside, it only spun, suddenly ending in a heavy stop when Heinrich slammed his foot on the brake. The jolt caused both of their bodies to move with the movement in the car. Both had been shaken up and shifted around, which had only caused minor injuries.

Janett leaned forward, keeping her hand on her head and took a deep breath in. Heinrich stared blank faced in front of him, his hands gripped tightly onto the steering wheel as he shook. Once he realized that the car hadn't flip and everything was alright, he let out a long sigh. He did notice some minor scrapes and bruises, but nothing he couldn't handle.

"Janett." He says quietly, peering over at the girl.

He raised his eyebrows with worry, unbuckled his seat belt and leaned over to grab her hand to remove it from the bump on her head. She had hit her head on the side of the car, but not hard enough to do any real damage. The bump was starting to swell, but she was lucky that it was only going to bruise. He would have been fired if he had accidentally gotten his bosses assistant in Australia hurt. He rubbed her back and nodded, turning the key so the car was off but the air still blasted.

"You should be fine, your head hurts, Ja?" Heinrich turned to her, as Janett nodded with furrowed eyebrows.

"I should be fine. Didn't expect that," she muttered back.

She shook him off with her hand and opened the door to go find out what happened. Heinrich nodded, getting out of the car to examine the damage to the tire, which was followed with an upset yell in German at the blasted tire. He put his hands up, looking around for the convict who shot his precious car, hissing unhappily.

"Scheiße Jack Mundy! Ve are here to talk!" he yelled loudly, running his hand through his hair as he looked back to his car with a small whimper.

Suspicion rose inside of Jack, but he also felt curious as to why they would have so blatantly pulled up and yelled their position out. They couldn't have been there to kill him, no, it was way too sloppy of them. He decided to investigate, slowly raising from his position.

Jack narrowed his eyes, not wanting to be too trusting. He lowered his gun, still holding it with both hands as he slowly makes his way to their car. It didn't take long for the man mumbling over his car to see him closing the gap between them. The strange man was speaking in… what sounded like German?

_ Now, that's odd._

Heinrich put his hands up, trying to not seem suspicious to the sniper. This was definitely him. Tall, tanned, and mostly always holding a gun. The medic didn't usually let himself have a gun pointed at him so freely, even keeping a loaded pistol in his back pocket in case things got ugly. Fortunately for Heinrich, Jack didn't fire. He just looked more confused and suspicious if anything, and Heinrich didn't blame him.

"Ah- Jack," Heinrich started, but his words were cut short as Janett stepped out of the car quickly, seeing the gun Jack held. Jack narrowed his eyes as he walked closer to the two, raising the gun a bit further.

"Who're you and how do ya know my name?" Jack questions.

Janett raised her hand for his attention, and when given, his expression became even more unhappy.

"Lower the gun, we don't want any harm," she said slowly, motioning for him to lower the gun.

Jack looked over the two, his gun slowly lowering, but still remaining at a height where he could shoot on a seconds notice.

"Ve are offering you a _job offer_ herr Mundy," Heinrich hisses, succeeding in convincing the sniper to lower his gun.

He looked a little annoyed, mostly caught off guard, but Medic was happy to put his hands down and have a gun out of his face.

_ Why in the bloody 'ell are these people out here offering me a job?, _Jack thought to himself, still confused about the whole situation. Guilt rushed over him when he looked down at the blasted tire of the car. He decided on not saying anything about it, choosing to shake his head instead.

"Job offer? I'm not lookin' for a job." Sniper grumbled, his eyebrows furrowing. He found it odd that they went to such lengths to find him, they should have waited for him to get out of these parts of Australia before they pressed him to join a job.

"It's a good offer. Work for our cause, Mr. Mundy, and you'll get the many perks-" Pauling was interrupted as the sniper shook his head and raised his hand.

"Perks?" Jack inquired, taking a step closer.

"Yes- Perks involving weapons…..a large pay….sniping every day?" she lists as she puts her hands together and walks over to the apprehensive sniper.

He was lost in his thoughts. He shook his head to stop the thoughts from distracting him and he studied Pauling for a bit.

"And what kind of _job_ will i be doing if it involves me snipin' every day?" Jacks voice had become suspicious again.

It seemed like he didn't know what to expect from a job that would offer things like that. He thought that this probably meant a couple jobs for assassinations. Even so, he still didn't understand why they came to such lengths. He noticed the female shift in her position, probably asking herself if she herself if they were just wasting their time, but after a second or two, she made a decision and pursed her lips.

"To work for Mann. Co., for our cause. You see, Mr. Mundy, we believe you are one of the most skilled snipers and we think you would be valuable to our team. Of course, there's more explaining if you do want to come with us. All I have to say is those perks come to effect the second you agree, and wouldn't you like to do something to help us? I can't answer too many personal questions about it, unless you're official about saying yes," Janett kept her voice firm, nodding her head as she pursued the sniper.

He seemed skeptical about her, his frown returning. It sounded shady, but he was always in those shady businesses. It _did_ peak his interest, the bribe of new weapons, and a large pay. Jack crossed his arms and nodded slowly.

"'lright, think I understand…. a bit? So if I accept, I'll be… fightin' for your…. _cause_, and I'll be getting a pay and new stuff, correct?" he didn't sound too thrilled over the fact that he was being pulled in with bribes, but he couldn't help it.

As much as he loved everything, his gun was getting old and even if he wasn't looking for a job and didn't want one, he really did need one.

"That's correct. So do you accept?" Pauling leans in, watching the doubtful sniper look at her, then over to his van and nod slowly.

"Yeah," He answers, jumping a little when Janett puts her hand forward quickly for him to shake.

He takes her hand, noting her grasp was firm, but still gentle. _She could probably be fightin' for this cause if she wanted to._

"Janett Pauling- just call me Pauling. Err- we have to leave, right now," Janetts' gaze moved over to Heinrich who had been worriedly looking back at the two. The medic waved, his look becoming relaxed when Pauling shot him a thumbs up to signal things worked.

"Though- Ms. Pauling, we're going to have to take my van, since..your car…" He starts as he shook his head.

Pauling nods slowly, looking at the camper as she walked over to medic to explain the situation. Jack watched the two bicker, the man putting his hands up and pointing to his car and then over to him. _Oops, _was all the sniper could think of before turning to the area he had his stuff and quickly picked it up, returning the items to his camper as he watched the two end their argument. Pauling returned as Heinich opened the door to his car to clear all of his things out, getting out boxes from the trunk and starting to carry them to the camper. He was upset that he was being forced to leave his car because Jacks' camper wasn't able to tow it.

"We can get the car back, right? Just call someone?" Pauling asks.

The sniper turned to look at the car, made a face and nodded slowly.

"Yeah." _The car is done for. _Jack tried not to glance at Heinrich, for fear of giving away the fact that his car was indeed helpless without it's tire and wouldn't be retrievable any time soon.

The sniper opened the passenger door for Janett, who smiled as she got inside. She tried to get comfortable, even if the camper at the moment was suffocating with heat while sitting in the shade. The sniper watched Heinrich slump into the back part of the camper, the obviously upset and grumbling German had his eyes glued to his car. There was nothing Jack could do about it, he could pay him back, but that seemed like too much work.

Shaking his head, the sniper climbed into the drivers seat. He turned the key and the car started up loudly. Jack leaned back into his chair and examined Pauling, who was getting out an old folded map and watched as she pointed to the nearest airport.

"It's there. We'll be going to Teufort," Janett spoke, turning to look at Heinrich in the back seat while she shook her head.

"After this, Lawrence is next, which Lucian is already taking care of."

_Written by Mick-kun_

_Edited by TweekTweeet_

_Neither of us own Team Fortress 2_


	2. The Scout

Chapter 2: The Scout

Hands tightly gripped the frigid cell bars, his head pressed indolently on the door. Lawrence stood hunched over inside his prison, his head slowly lifting at the sound of the long door that separated him from freedom of outside unlock. Lawrence was beginning to wonder when they would come to gather him for his trial, which he wasn't all too excited for since he was expecting a couple years in jail.

He didn't have high hopes for himself, and they dropped even lower as he watched the guard patrol to his position. The man firmly told him to sit at the end of the cell while he opened the door. Lawrence obliged, putting his hands up with a fake scowl that didn't completely hide his nervousness. He sat on the creaky bench at the end like the guard said, and watched the guard open the door. The guard plodded cautiously over to Lawrence, and cuffed both of the younger mans wrists. Lawrence wasn't all too fond of being in the cuffs. Even so, he decided to remain silent and gave the guard a look as he was pushed roughly in front of him, the small shove reminding Lawrence he wasn't allowed to dawdle.

"Listen man, I ain't gonna run off," Lawrence snapped, and frowned to himself as the guard grumbled some words under his breath to _shut up kid _under his breath.

The guards "unheard" grumble was shook off with a shrug and a 'whatever, I get it'. The guard led him though a couple hallways, and past too many doors for Lawrence to keep track off. Finally stopping in front of a large wooden door, the guard firmly pulled it open and led Lawrence inside a large courtroom that was mostly empty.

Lawrence didn't have really anyone on his side, he _did_ after all rob a little old mans shop with a baseball bat, while he screamed his head off and nearly gave the poor old guy a heart attack. He felt guilty, but was too angry at the fact that no one decided to look into the real fact why he attacked the shop. The only reason he did it in the first place was that he just really wanted to help his Ma, who was struggling with her current funds.

At the end of the day it wouldn't matter, today was the day he was going to be tried and he knew the shop owner hated his guts after he put one of his store clerks in the hospital due to a hit to the head with his old baseball bat. The bills he would have to pay would devastate his mother, that is, if he had a chance to get out of his jail time. He knew he had probably put his family in a worse situation than they had already been in.

The guard put his hand on Lawrences' shoulder, giving him a brief look of pity before sitting him in a chair at a table in front of the judge. The wrinkles that lined the judges face didn't give away any emotion, and the man didn't even glance up when Lawrence scooted his chair closer with a loud squeak. His expression was blank as his eyes scanned the documents of the situation that Lawrence got himself into. Lawrences' eyes darted around in a panic, not seeing the lawyer that he tried to get on short notice.

_I'm fucking toast,_ Lawrence thought, as he put his head down slowly, and struggled with the fact he was going be stuck in that prison for awhile.

_Why even give me a trial if I know they're just going to throw me in another one of those cells to rot._ The man's expression twisted into a grimace when the judge cleared his throat, calling his name.

"Lawrence Fitzpatrick. You're here for the fact that you robbed a convenience store with a bat, and put one of the employees in the hospital. Correct?" The Judge interrogated in a slightly bored voice as he narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. Lawrence sat still for a bit, before lifting his head to meet the judges stare. Lawrences voice caught in his throat so he shrugged and nodded in place of a verbal reply for now.

"Yeah." He replied after a pause, putting his hands on the table in front of him, which caused the cuffs to rattle slightly. He leaned in as well, his fingers starting to drum nervously on the wood.

"Thats really all there is to it- I kinda, ya know, can't avoid it so i'm pleadin' guilty," Lawrence's voice shook slightly.

The judge eyed with slightly squinted eyes as if he couldn't really see the skinny teen in front of him. Lawrence shifted uncomfortably and dropped his gaze to stare at the table. The judge settled back into his chair with a small grunt of annoyance and opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the door abruptly opening. A tall, thin man stood in the doorway with a file under his arm, trying to catch his breath as he fixed his tie. He cleared his throat, eyeing Lawrence whose head craned curiously to see who loudly intruded. Lawrences expression fell at the sight of his step dad.

"Gentleman," Lucian loudly projected. The judge slammed his mallet onto the desk and shot Lucian a tired and annoyed look.

"For gods sake can we at least have one trial where someone doesn't just burst in?" The judge hissed, watching Lucian confidently make his way to the front of the courtroom. The old man sat in his chair discontentedly and shot the guards a look when they closed in. They stopped and looked for the judges permission that Lucian was allowed to approach him. With a nod of approval, Lucian slowly sauntered to the judge and placed the files in front of him, leaning forward.

"This trial shouldn't be 'appening. These documents say Lawrence shouldn't be here, proof zhat he 'is in _our_ company's cause," Lucian says softly so only the judge can hear. The judges eyebrows shot up and he spluttered out something incoherent. The judge quickly regained his composure and gave Lucian a cold look. The older man scoffed, took the files into his hands and searched through them, his fingers lining up and down the rows until he stopped. His eyes shut with a tired sigh, and he closed the file.

"Lawrence Fitzpatrick, you're free to go," the judge sighs, leaning back in his chair with a large frown. Lawrence's eyebrows shot up, looking over to his step dad with a confused look. He didn't remember doing anything that would have freed him from going to jail, but _fuck it_, he wasn't going to complain.

Lucian nodded his head to the guards to take the cuffs off of Lawrence's hands and they compiled, a dirty look being shot the the Frenchman as they unlocked the cuffs from the Boston. Lawrence stood up happily, rubbed his wrists and gave a omnipotent sounding laugh. He walked over to Lucian and happily slapped his back. He gave a shrug to the judge and backed up to where the door was, while raising his hand.

"Later suckers!" Lawrence shouted, his stepfather trying to tell him to be quiet. When the doors closed and they were outside of the courtroom, Lawrence quickly grabbed Lucian with a worried look and shoved him against a wall. Lucian just groaned slightly in response.

"What the hell did 'ya do to get me outta there?" Lawrence hissed, Lucian slowly putting his hands up. With a scowl, the Frenchman swatted at his arm and shoved him off, narrowing his eyes.

"Listen Lawrence, I went through _hell _to find you, and zhe first thing that you utter is _what the hell Lucian_?" He growled, his accent more pronounced than normal. The tension left the older mans body and he pinched the bridge of his nose with a tired sigh. Lawrence watched him, feeling slightly guilty, but still crossed his arms in protest anyway. He hadn't expected to see Lucian at all in any time he was in jail, and had been expecting a harsh response from his step dad when the message was relayed to him that Lawrence was locked up in a cell.

Though, Lawrence was happy that his step dad did care. Although it was a silent emotion, it was mutual. It was just something not normally said between the two. Whenever one did show affection it was treated coldly, but the affection was appreciated between the mask of hatred. After all, Lucian did practically raise him.

"So, what's th' deal anyway, Luc?" Lawrence's voice softened, leaning in closer when Lucian suspiciously eyed the area for anyone.

"I'll 'ave to tell you on zhe way- Though I'll 'ave you know it involves a job," Lucian mumbled quietly, starting to walk forward. The young man already knew to follow, not needing to be told. Lawrence practically walked on Lucian's heels and eyed the area around them suspiciously.

"So, what does this, uh, _job _include anyway?" Lawrence asked uninterestedly.

Lucian eyed the shorter male in a scolding way, not responding right away as they made their way to his car. Lucian gently opened up the door to his car, giving a cold look to Lawrence as the younger male sloppily threw open the passenger door and slumped in.

"The job involves a long battle," Lucian began.

He cleared his throat as he turned the key in the engine and listened to the car noisily thunder to life. The Frenchman kept his eyes forward and away from his stepson. He felt Lawrences confused stare bore into the side of his head, but he didn't look at him yet. The subject was something he had to burn into his mind and he wasn't all too fond of explaining it all over again. Then again, this wasn't like a summer camp, which meant there wasn't a pamphlet to show Lawrence. With a quick glance at the waiting males face, Lucian started to wish it was something like a summer camp.

Clearing his throat for a second time, he started to drive out of the prisons parking lot. His fingers began drumming on the steering wheel as he tried to map out where to begin, not sure of what would scare the young Bostonian off. Either way, he was going with him to the airport and there was nothing either of them could do now that he accepted. Even though, he was a tad bit nervous that if he gave out the information, that Lawrence would refuse and he'd have a dirty situation on his hands.

Though, he could trust him- he _had_ to trust him if anything. He wanted to believe that his stepson would come without a hassle, and not with only bribes. The money part was the big thing he knew would keep Lawrence interested in the job, even if it was hard. They were lucky to have a good pay, which was mostly to keep their hopes up and stay for the battle. Lucian did wish they would do the usual _sit down and let us explain to you everything_ teachings they did for the few of them that accepted earlier on.

It wasn't as easy with Lawrence, knowing his stubborn and non-patient personality. Lucian decided to get it out of the way for him and to tell him now. The male had already let himself get comfortable in the passenger seat, lazily waiting for an answer, the anticipation showing in the way he swallowed and shifted.

"I'll tell you zhe basics for now, if zhat's alright. Then you can decide if its somezhing you want to join for us- of course you'll 'ave a hefty pay, and zhey'll explain more when we get there," Lucian started, looking in his mirror for any cars before turning onto a long road. The drive would be a good hour of sitting in the summer heat, awkwardly trying to avoid the topic. Lawrence was still watching him expectantly, and had begun to chew on one of his fingernails.

"Its a battle between land, between Redmund and Blumund. Apparently, zhis is a battle zhat's been going on for a long time. But, of course, many of zhe mercenaries died, zhey were fighting to the death, after all. Well, zhe woman watching over zhese battles is referred to as zhe Administrator," Lucian continued, trying to remember the full story. He leaned back into the drivers seat, let one hand slip into his lap, and gripped the wheel tightly with the other.

"Zhese mercenaries were the best of the best, you see. Death was uncommon on the field, but happened enough to where the battle came to many stops. Thus, having to fly in rare members, rare classes such as, hm, snipers. Of course, if zhey died zhey 'ad their subs, and so on if you are following. Zhis is where you come in- or more along zhe lines of, we come in," Lucian finished, his gaze flashing over at Lawrence. It confused the Bostonian, he didn't know where Luc was going with his explanation, but mostly he didn't want to be risking his life so easily if these 'mercenaries' were dying and didn't seem to hold a high position.

"Now, since zhe battle 'as been stopped at a stalemate, zhe Administrator decided to… hold things for a new project. But she was sensitive not to test on any Red or Blu members," Lucian grimaced, still not happy with the fact that some of their members were nearly test dummies.

"I ain't followin'. There's already a team?" Lawrence pursued.

"Well, of course, there's a company for both Blu and Red. It's not like zhis battle 'asn't been going on for awhile, there's classes for both Blu and Red zhat zhey fly in. Both sides have their fair quality of members. All of you joining at this point, us, me and you, are new to zhis battle. We don't quite fit into these types of categories yet. We are zhe new ones, facing a stalemate in a different way zhan before. It's zhe longest stalemate zhis battle 'as seen which called for drastic matters."

Lawrence wrinkled his nose, leaned forward, and clapped his hands together. He thought about what he was told, the silence lasting for about a minute.

"Why the hell would I be riskin' my life if I already know I'm gonna die? That's just bullshit, Luc," Lawrence hissed. His expression quickly turned to anger, which helped to conceal the surprise at the fact the Frenchman would bail him out just to put him into a battle so he could die. It's not like he was even ready for anything big like that. His emotions weren't even done fully developing, nor his body physically ready for something that harsh.

"Yes- but zhere's more to it-" Lucian started.

"More than bein' put in a field to be killed for, I dunno, money that I probably won't live to collect?"

"If you would just listen Lawrence, wasn't it your smart mouth zhat got you in situations like this in zhe first place?" Lucian snapped, as he watched the Bostonian deflate back into his seat with crossed arms and a scowl.

"You're tryin' to get rid of me," he grumbled, passive about trying to guilt trip him. Lucian pinched the bridge of his nose, frustration building up in his chest. Sometimes talking to the younger male was a bit hard since his emotions were still so spread out and even as predictable he was, sometimes even Luc couldn't read him.

"Zhere's a respawn," Lucian said evenly, trying to get him to hush down. His words peaked Lawrence's interest, even though he was still confused. Despite the anger he felt, he decided to avert his attention to the Frenchman.

"I don't really get what you're sayin', Luc," Lawrence tried to continue, but shut his mouth at the look Lucian shot him after interrupting. It was one of Lucian's biggest pet peeves when Lawrence wouldn't let him finish and would instead choose to just bombard him with questions.

"We 'ave a doctor, and an engineer working on zhe respawn. You see, once you're hooked up to it you will never die- even if you do. So let's just say, you get shot in zhe face, you will come back good as new."

"Shot in the face? I'd never let shit like that happen, Luc, who do you think you're talkin' to-"

"Lawrence," Lucian growled with a pointed glare shot at the Bostonian. He didn't want to be rude to him, but sometimes it's all he could do when his sentences were starting to mix with Lawrence's. After all, it wasn't his fault that Lawrence's sentences _started in the middle of his. _

"Here's zhe big idea, if it'll make things easier to understand. A stalemate broke out, which is quite rare actually. A stalemate zhat couldn't be solved by putting other members on zhe field since death rates got too high. It started to get way too expensive, so, zhey made a respawn and we're to battle out the stalemate. Make sense?" Lawrence nodded slowly to Lucian.

"So you won't die, you'll be killing zhe other team, the other team killing you, with nobody actually dying. If you fight, you get the money, zhe benefits, and the weapons." The Frenchman nodded to show he was done, his eyes looking at him, waiting for an answer. Though the bribes caught Lawrence's attention again, he sat back quietly this time and thought over it. He didn't understand and it seemed fishy, but if he was getting paid, he wouldn't have to worry about causing trouble for his ma. The situation was odd, but in the end he had to take it, and he did.

"Yeah I guess- sure- but, are we goin' there now?" Lawrence asked, casually sinking back into his chair. Lucian stretched a hand out to the road, implying this obviously wasn't the way to their younger male let out a snort to tell the older male that his humor wasn't appreciated.

"And one thing, half my pay goes to my ma, alright Luc?" He said softly, watching Lucian's expression turn from bored to slightly sad. It was all the older male could do for his wife in the end, give her a bit of the pay, but he hated the fact that he would allow her son to help her out as well. Lucian loved Julie with all of his heart and it was almost heartwarming to hear that his step-son cared as much as he.

"Oui. I promise it'll get to 'er," Lucian mumbled gently, then turned his eyes back to the long road to the airport. It was going to be a long drive of Lawrence shifting in his seat and trying to bring up small topics about the upcoming job. In the end, Luc didn't want to have to pull out the threats on him, even if he could tell Lawrence was still unsure.

That could cause some small problems.

Heinrich was working diligently in his office, his hands trying to quickly work on the medi-gun. He was half focused on his attempts to not breathe any of the dust that was in his office that had gathered since he'd been gone on his trip to Australia. He hadn't heard back from Lucian since he left for Boston a couple days before, and he should have returned yesterday. The uneasy feeling had left a weird feeling in the medics gut, but he trusted that Lucian could handle any problems they would've encountered. He let Lucian work his own way like Lucian let him work with Janett to retrieve their next Sniper.

Though the trip put him behind schedule, their engineer, Dell, had already gotten a bit further with perfecting the respawn. It would be successful, and once the respawn worked, then his medi-gun would work. He hoped the one that was currently in his hand would work eventually. His many other medi-guns that failed to pass any test were thrown into a corner of boxes, long forgotten and would probably be melted down for scrap metal. It would be worth it in the end, their job would be completed.

Outside the medibay, through a small window that was open, he heard the few members chatting and then a car pulling up. Heinrich hoped that his wishes came true, that it was Lucian and their new Scout pulling up. He was curious about their newest member, though from what Lucian told him about the Boston male, he would be the youngest and apparently was a loud mouth. That was the last thing they needed, since the first scout they recruited was already loud mouthed, but a bit more sophisticated.

He still stayed in his office, not wanting to venture and decided to let anyone who arrived come to him if they needed him. He listened intently, accidentally letting one of his fingers brush off the medigun and nearly giving him a cut. It wasn't long before the doors had opened and while turning his chair, a smile graced Heinrichs face when Lucian stepped inside.

Lucian simply greets him with a nod, letting Lawrence walk inside with a curious gaze. At first glance, Lawrence studied the medic, his features were hard and older, looking exhausted with deeps black and purple bags under his eyes. His hair was disheveled and on his desk was a large object that Lawrence couldn't identify. The room was fairly dusty, plenty of boxes were open and sprawled around with metal parts inside. It wasn't a medi-bay yet, but he could tell by the features that were already set up, that this is where he would go if he was injured.

"Hi," Lawrence mumbled after a awkward stare. He was being eyed by Heinrich and eventually he stuck out a large hand, .

"Hi- You're going to be ze new scout, I prezume?" Heinrich's words more more directed in the direction of Lucian, who simply nodded as well.

"Yeah- 'm Lawrence- The Scout? I don't really understand everything' if thats, ya know, okay, but I accepted. Are ya the medic Luc told me about?" Lawrence took his hand, firmly shaking. Heinrich nodded and leaned back, returning to his seat and rotated so his position facing the medigun like before.

Out of the corner of his eye, Heinrich watched Lucian wave a hand and slip out of the medibay as quietly as possible. He was eager to get back to his own work in his room that he had suspended since he had to go retrieve Lawrence.

"Lucian told you zhe big idea, ja?" The tired doctor mumbled, his voice slightly bored. Lawrence could tell that sleep was something rare to him. The way he spoke, moved, and looked screamed that he needed to get more sleep, but the only thing keeping him up at this time was desperation and coffee. He wondered how stressed the situation was as the respawn was being made, since he already sensed that the aura in the building was harsh and drained.

It wasn't all too impressive to the younger male, the respawn seemed like a dumb thing that wouldn't work. Something like that was unheard of and virtually impossible, he expected to see the whole plan crash and watch everyone have to move onto plan B. Lawrence's eyes moved to the medigun under Heinrich, uninterested, but slightly curious as to what it would accomplish for the new teams and battle.

"Yeah. I somewhat understand...like I said. Seems pretty dumb to me," Lawrence remarked. Heinrich remained unfazed at the slight insult directed at him and his plan. It's not like his plan being stepped on was a new thing to Heinrich, even to him the main idea of the Respawn plan seemed dumb, but not impossible. Heinrichs expression turned into a grimace, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. At this point, he was done with the introduction and wanted their new Scout to leave and look around.

Heinrich started to understand what Lucian meant that his personality was a little odd, in the nicest way possible. He turned away from his work and leaned forward, watching the confused man look around, then slowly return the look.

"Make friends. I don't care. But don't get too friendly, ve are splitting all of you soon or later. Just don't be sassy- or an asshole. Ve already have someone like that," Heinrich scowled. Lawrence shifted his weight from foot to foot and raised his eyebrows.

"Asshole? I ain't an asshole, its called bein' assertive and tellin' the truth. Besides, if you're talkin' about the other asshole, I hope you're talkin about you," He snapped back, his attention turning to the door, which the Medic noticed was ajar from his colleague patiently waiting for the conversation to end between the two before noticing his presence.

"Everything okay?" He asked, a southern accent spilling over his tired words. Lawrence began to wonder if the jaded and tired sound of everyone's voice was a common trait for most of the mercenaries.

"Ah- Ja. Dell, this iz our new Scout, Lawrence. Zis is Dell, he'll show you vhere you are staying. He's our engineer, ze second person vorking on zis project vith me und everyone else. Und- Lawrence?" The shorter male took a glance up at Heinrich when he was addressed.

"I'd keep zhat smart mouth of yours closed. Vouldn't vant to make enemies on day one, vould you?" Heinrich turned away from the two, going back to working on the medigun that was nearly completed.

Lawrence shot a cold look at the back of Heinrichs head, his eyes already narrowed when he walked toward Dell. Lawrence watched the friendly smile of Dell appear, the air around him more friendly than the overly tired Medic. Lawrence felt he could trust him more, but he shook off the statement to make friends. He was here to do a job after all, he didn't need friends or anything that came with it. All he wanted to do was do his job, get the money and repeat.

"Howdy there, I wouldn't mind him. It's been awhile since we've both got a good amount of rest. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it here, it's a little stuffy, but let me show you to your room." Lawrence took a mental note that Dell was a lot more pleasant than Heinrich, Lawrence showing some small preference over him. He had a friendly face, though his hand shake was a lot more firm than he would have expected.

The shorter male turned down a corner, looking back and encouraging him to follow. Lawrence trailed behind him, eyes looking around the empty white walls. It was boring,the long hallway consisting of a large amount of doors against white walls. The air was heavy, the building hot and stale from the summer outside. The area altogether didn't please him, but he figured it would be better if he kept his words to himself. The silence was almost awkward at first, the only sound being made was the soft tap of their shoes clacking on the tile floor.

"Uh. Are we usin' guns? Like, Killin' people? I don't have any trainin'," Lawrence forced out after the silence had gotten too long, receiving a curious glance from Dell. The brief look turned to amusement, and he chuckled to himself faintly. They ambled down the hallways for a bit longer, taking a couple sharp turns until the Engineer stopped in his tracks at a blank door. Dell turned to the door, getting out a golden key out of his back pocket that read 012 and quickly unlocked it, and gave it a small push so it would open. He placed the key in the palm of Lawrence's hand and stepped back.

"Of course we'll be killing people. Not for real like before, with guns. You'll start your training in three days, you can just relax for now and we'll get everything sorted through for you." Dell patted the males back lightly, looking inside of the almost empty room that only consisted of a table and a white bed. It reminded Lawrence of jail, except here he had more freedom, and he wasn't going to be served horrible food- at least, he hoped.

"Why three?" Lawrence faced Dell, pursing his lips, excited to begin anything related with training and guns. He had only held a gun a couple times, mostly in his childhood when he found a revolver accidentally in his parents room when Lucian moved in.

"Our trainers are a bit delayed. Get comfortable, try to sleep a bit. See you when you wake up." Dell flashed a smile at him, leaving Lawrence at his door. He stood there a bit confused. He didn't question anything though, he just stepped inside of his room and shut the door lightly.

The first thing he noticed was how small the room was. It was stuffy and windowless, and the small ceiling light didn't seem like it would cast much light. The room collected heat as the day passed, and he could tell he was going to be constantly hot while he was inside of the room. Lawrence hoped this wouldn't be the room he would stay in for the time he was going to be fighting, because if it was, he was not going to be very happy.

Sitting on the bed, the only nice thing about it was that it wasn't as hard as a rock and the sheets welcomed his back as he laid down. Lawrence didn't realize how tired he was himself, his eyelids already threatening to force themselves down, his body drained from his long day and screaming for sleep.

He drifted into a slumber with the people he had met that day on his mind, but mostly his mother was in his thoughts. Whatever was going to come next, he was ready to take it and refused to back down. Besides, how complicated could everything about this plan be?

_AN: Hey guys sorry for the long wait, both of us have been trying to finish up the end of the school year and got distracted with life. We'll try to have another update in the next two weeks, thanks!_

_u v u -love Mick n Tweek_


	3. White

**AN: ****_The story will be updated at a slower rate, due to no longer having an editor. This chapter was written and edited over a course of 3/4 months so any grammar mistakes I jumped over I apologize. I'm not abandoning this fic, but support helps me write faster. -Mick_**

It started with a loud ring, metal hitting against metal, which signified that the alarm was going off. Lawrence awoke suddenly, his body heavy against the rock hard mattress, confused at his surroundings. Remembering almost everything at once, he let all the air escape from his body with a drawn out 'hffff' and his slammed his hand down on the alarm clock. The alarm stopped, leaving the newly nicknamed Scout in utter silence and dim darkness in the almost empty room, his drowsy mind telling him to fall back asleep.

He allowed his eyes to open up and scan the room, the white walls were dark but in a warm sense that allowed him to relax. He furrowed his eyebrows, sitting up slightly to peek at the only source of light that was spilling under the door, the golden tones refreshing the floor. The light wasn't strong enough to completely chase away the darkness in his room quite Scout let his head fall back onto the pillow comfortably, not wanting to get up to start the day too early.

In a way to comfort himself, he listened to his mind and shut his eyes again, trying to roll over in his bed. Lawrence jumped at the sound of his door being pounded on, confusion and annoyance swirling in the males mind when the shouting began. At first, he refused to listen, but slowly let his mind tune in and sat up when he realized it was one of the other mercenaries waking him up. His loud words were trying to nail into his mind that it was time to get up, and if he didn't, he'd drag him out himself.

Lawrence sat up slowly, eyeing the door with slight suspicion and letting out a long sigh. He was momentarily curious at who the voice belonged to, but ran with it and decided it would be better if he listened instead of trying to talk back.

"Hold it, I hear ya don't worry, I'm up!" The scout tried to yell back, voice sloppy, annoyed but sharp. He was happy to hear that it had warded off his unwanted alarm clock. The man grumbled words Lawrence couldn't make out and left to wake up everyone else. He could have sworn the man had felt the daggers in Lawrence's eyes as he glared at the door when the stranger had rudely awakened him. Shrugging it off, he stood from his bed which creaked in response and eyed the small clock on his bedside. Reading it to be 7:04AM, his eyes narrowed and he let his body flop back on to the bed again, rubbing his eyes.

_If it's going to be like this every morning, I'm gonna die._ Scout mused to himself, running his hands on his face to wipe the tiredness from his eyes. He sat back, Lawrence letting his eyes blur into the door and let himself settle, learning his surroundings again and reminding himself of the job he took. He noted it wasn't all too different from his prison room, but the boring white room almost warmed his heart when he thought of the fact that he was free, able to leave the room.

It was day three at the base, in another larger building about half a mile from the field they would be fighting at. He was able to see it from the area they were at, curious as to what it looked like, the small places he could run or hide, but a little more interested about what the battle would consist of. As confident as he was, it left a nervous feeling in his stomach at the thought they'd be killing other people. Lawrence stood, dressing himself in the familiar clothes he had back at home, the fabric was slightly wrinkled and they smelled a little musty, but it was home that Lucian probably packed in preparation.

Scout pulled at his shirt slightly at the bottom to get rid of any bunching up that would happen and ran a quick hand through his short hair. Lawrence reminded himself that after all this happened he needed to find out where the showers were to freshen up. He could already feel the buildup of sweat on his body and the bostonian wasn't all too fond of it.

The scouts hand grabbed at the door knob, opening it with a creak and slipped out, trying to be as quiet as possible to close it to avoid any yells from the loud voice in the hallways down. Lawrence looked up and down the white hallways, both long and at the end taking other sharp turns to doors and passageways. It occurred to him when he stepped out from his room that he had no idea where he should go.

The scout shrugged, deciding to take a left and hoped for the best. The further he stepped, the quieter the building seemed and the smell turning sour. Scout had a good hunch that this wasn't where the cafeteria was, but he pushed onward. He was walking slowly, trying to glance at the white doors, until one without numbers stood to his left and he slowly inched forward, running his fingers under the handle to open.

"Vat are you doing here?" The Medic had hissed him, causing the Bostonian to jump back and turn, looking the crazed medic in the face. He did not look happy, or well rested, but he was curious to see if the white walls were really a facade. Lawrence wondered if something was up going on in there, the files that he saw Medic shuffle through with, for whatever reason he was curious to get his hands on the papers. The topic didn't linger in his head, his stomach distracting him from his thoughts.

Scout rocked on his heels, frowning with crossed arms and pursed lips. Lawrence knew he wouldn't take his attitude if he tried to give him one, and forced to swallow the sharp replies that he wasn't all too familiar with the place.

All in simple steps, of course.

"I got lost, ya know?" He motioned around the redundant walls. Lawrence took in a nervous breath of air. "All the walls are white and everything looks the same."

The look on Heinrich's face flattened a bit with realization that he wasn't up to something big. His posture relaxed and he extended his finger to point the opposite direction.

"Nein- Vhen you leave your room, the cafeteria is in the west part of the building. Zis is the East- vich is very off limits to you." With Medics voice bored with telling him old rules, Heinrich turned and gave him a quick glance. The look traced his figure for a second and he almost looked sorrowful. Medic gulped down his words, and let his tired eyes peel off of the Scout to turn back to his office.

It was a look he didn't forget, those blue eyes burning into his skull with sorrow trying to passively send him any message. Lawrence stayed silent, his suspicious look returning to the Medics back and watched him turn a corner. As friendly as he tried to pin their Medic, that confirmed that something was definitely up, but he refused to be the one to point out anything out of the norm.

The smell of food invaded his senses in the hallway, the Scouts stomach growling for some form of food. With a barely audible sigh, he glanced to the east area, temptation nearly kicking over to see if Heinrich was around the area. Lawrence decided to not give in this time, and turned quickly to the west part, heading down the hallways. It was the food that made him give in, and with a couple turns he entered the more quiet cafeteria. As usual, following the design of the white building which bored Scout to death, the room was white with long windows blinded by sun. The only color that showed on the white tables and white walls was the distant fade of yellow flashing through the windows. He wanted the color in his life to return, but it seemed that the building sucked the life and hue out of everything.

His fingers twitched towards the plates, taking a warm plate off the top of the stack and shuffled to a small neat buffet, offering a basic selection of American style breakfast. Satisfied with what he was able to get, scout turned to stare off at the tables, feeling the awkward sensation like he felt at school when he knew literally nobody at lunch. Lawrence tried to remind himself that everyone else wouldn't know eachother very well either, but looking in the very short crowd, scout decided to pick the table that was thin of members, few quietly talking on the furthest end and a single male paying keen attention to all of his food.

"Hope this seat isn't taken?" Lawrence cleared his throat to alert the other male who was more occupied with his food as he placed his tray next to him. His brown eyes averted from the food to look confused at Lawrence, but was replaced when a more friendly smile stretched on his face. The older male looked about as tired as he was, a little more groggy, but still looking more to life than Lawrence could ever achieve.

"Ay- Nah. It's free. Ahm' Tavish." His accent was thick, and a little hard to understand with food stuffed in his cheeks. Tavish held out his hand for Lawrence to take, which he shook firmly and gave him a smile back.

"I'm Lawrence. Got here yesterday, not really used t' wakin up early." Lawrence grumbled, a yawn slipping after his words. He tried to throw on a more fake smile to add humor, and was pat on the back semi seriously by Tavish. Scout swallowed the rest of the food in his mouth, flashing a confused smile in his direction.

"Ay- I know how 'ya feel. Ah've been 'ere for a couple'a days. Though, ah' lot of new people 'ave been coming lately- like you." Tavish shrugged sheepishly, taking a quick drink out of the coffee cup next to his plate. Lawrence himself, becoming more focused on the food in front of him furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't know why his first thought was that everyone _should be_ there by then, there had to have been a good 15 people in the room chatting, but it wasn't like Scout knew how many people there were supposed to be.

It was the first time he noticed it in the room, his stomach no longer empty, the white mixed into the light like wet paint. The atmosphere that was tired but filled with life, the strangers becoming to know each other even for an hour in the morning. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and cooling food sat in the air, still welcoming. It was something he could possible get used to, his second choice to get over the fact that he couldn't sit at the table with his mother and his brothers.

As Lawrences eyes roamed around, he stared at a man that seemed to fit the loud voice outside of his door, hearing him loudly talk to another member across the table. He held a cup of coffee tightly in his hand, his movements animated and large. _Some people are insane with little sleep_, Scout mused. Lawrence felt a smile creep up on his face as he elbowed Tavish lightly, both craning their necks to look at the man, trying to nonchalantly point.

"Ay- who's that?" Lawrence whispered lightly, noticing the look Tavish had as he smiled. He turned back to the table, taking in another large sip from the coffee cup and placed it gently on the surface.

"Jane Doe. Ay 'ave to say we've talked once or twice and 'e seems like 'ah man that I could party with one day." Tavish laughed loudly, rocking his body and returned the nudge with enthusiasm. Scout winced, pulling back his elbow as he snickered.

"I 'unno man. He does seem a little loud for me, ya know, with the shoutin'?" Lawrence mumbled, Tavish thinking about it to himself, but seeming neutral he shrugged it off. They seemed to already be friends, it seemed a bit unfair but he secretly envied them that they came early, giving them extra time to make friends. Scout turned to look at the room again, scanning the people who were either chatting away or too worked up on their food.

In the very back, someone actually did catch his eyes. He sat alone, one hand holding an older looking newspaper, and another hand loosely gripping onto the handle of a black coffee mug that rested on a coaster. His eyes, tiredly scanning the lines of the paper refused to look up to also study the room like Lawrence was, from what he could tell he intended to sit alone, stay alone and not talk unless he had to.

Lawrence furrowed his eyebrows, scoffing quietly as he turned back to his plate, shaking his head. _What a loser, _Scout thought, grabbing the last piece of bacon on his plate, tempted to bite at it but started to feel slight discomfort like he was being watched. He tried to shake the feeling off, raising his head as a figure sat down next to him- his stepfather in his normal attire that seemingly _only _consisted of suits. He was simply holding a cup of coffee and smiling at Lawrence. He hated that smile.

Clearing his throat, Lawrence threw Lucian a cold look and scooted closer to Tavish so he wasn't sitting as close his stepfather intended to sit. He eyed the Frenchman, his eyes not as tired as the other members, he always seemed to be the definition of annoying perfection. The way he sat straight with a smug expression that seemed to be permanent, Lucian was always a morning person, but he could never tell with the facades he put up.

"What'ya want, Luc?" Lawrence said after dropping his attitude and closed his eyes, "Do 'ya ever have bad mornings?" His plate was empty after he took the last bite into his bacon, and even though his stomach still craved more food, breakfast wasn't his favorite meal of the day. Lucian leaned forward to wave his hand idly at Tavish, who seemed to be more invested in finishing his coffee than waving back at the more dapper male.

"It can be like old times Lawrence- think of ze times we sat together and ate a meal." Lucian glinted a smile, his fingers lacing onto the handle of his cup, taking a shallow sip. Scout grimaced and nudged his step-father lightly, leaning in closer to his face. Lucian leaned down in response to listen, raising an eyebrow at the look Lawrence gave him.

"Our relationship- us, ya' don't tell anyone about it, Luc. Ya don't let them know you're…. _that _to me, ya don't get too friendly, and same with me. Agreed?" It wasn't that he hated him, but they both nodded in agreement that some things should be kept to themselves and private.

Something was starting to mess with Lawrence's head, it caused his stomach to stir, like something was stabbing into his back. Scout shifted uncomfortably in his seat, tempted to look behind him knowing that a pair of eyes were glued on the back of his head, whoever was trying to make him uncomfortable was trying to pick a fight.

"What?" Lucian asked when he noticed the fidgeting. Scout decided to ignore him, trying to take a nonchalant sip from his cup.

Gathering the courage, he slowly turned his head to look around the room, trying to casually search but accidentally met his eyes with the male in the corner, the male with the tired grey eyes and sunglasses sitting next to him on the table. It was awkward at first, his stare being returned, the blank expression and his casual grip on the newspaper. He didn't look away, infact, he held the gaze, his eyebrows lowering slightly with slight confusion as to why some random kid would even keep the stare that was slowly growing weird.

Lucian looked up from his cup, curious. He tried to lean over to meet Lawrences gaze and his expression fell flat. He gave Lawerence an asking look, his interest drifting away to why he was having a passive duel. The Frenchman cleared his throat, trying to grab the younger males attention.

"Lawrence- what are you doing-" He started to say, Lawrence refusing to break the eye contact, his hand shooting up to indicate that he needed to stay quiet.

His lips formed into a thin frown. "Shh, Luc. Me and this guy are havin a stare off and I aint losin." Lawrence muttered quickly, shaking off the Frenchman who shrugged with a slow sigh, sitting forward. The air had already started to stale in the heat, or maybe it was due to the fact that the scouts temperature began to rise, being slightly embarrassed from the awkward look. He eventually ripped his eyes from the older males paler blue eyes, shifting in his seat and turning back to his empty

"That guy over there is really fuckin' creepy." Lawrence breathed quietly to Tavish, his head popping up to look who he was talking about. Tavish nodded and laughed.

"Aye, we 'ave some of those more 'mysterious' ones, 'es the Sniper, I think. Maybe ya should look around the field, It _can _'elp quite a bit." Tavish shrugged, flashing a smile. Lawrence did consider checking it out, figuring It would be better to know the area first instead of running in blind, he returned the smile sheepishly and grabbed his empty plate. He stood, glancing at Lucian. They acknowledged each other, Scouts attention turning to Tavish.

"I think I will. You can see it from here?" Lawrence asked, Tavish raising his eyebrows and nodded, but his expression turned bitter like his coffee was black.

"Aye- But you have to ask Heinrich before 'ya go. They get a little nervous when people disappear." He seemed to have taken the last bite of his plate when he was staring down with the 'sniper'. It struck him at first with confusion, why they _would _allow anyone to go onto the field. If they were allowed in any area around there, that could give any advantage for people to find secret areas or places to hide items for when things actually start. Scout guessed there had to be a reason for everything, it would be their fault if they didn't take advantage of this time.

Lawrence waved to Tavish and Lucian, watching the frenchman look up from his drink, then over to the scottish male and nod as if they had already exchanged words before. The last thing he wanted to do right now was talk to their medic, he didn't know why he was the one in charge and not someone else. The medic being in charge with a whole program like this seemed to be unorganized in Scout's eyes, but they probably had their reasons, for _everything._

Lawrence followed the white hallways until they made their turns, he kept the directions memorized in his head, even though he was mostly following the scent. He entered a hallway aligned with seats to the main door he figured was most likely the waiting room and knocked on the metal doors. Scout stood in front of the doors for almost thirty impatient seconds, Heinrich's head poking through.

"You vant to leave." How the older male could read him was almost scary. Lawrence flashed his best innocent smile. "Ja, figured." The German rolled his eyes.

The medic pushed open one of the doors to let Scout in, watching him intently as he slowly entered. He strolled in, trying to not make eye contact with the medics dark green eyes. "Vait here." Heinrich rushed to another door before entering and leaving him alone in the horribly lit room.

Lawrence poked at one of the metal devices on a counter, watching a nail fail and a piece slipping off onto the surface. He gasped quietly, trying to shove the piece back on, turning around quickly when Medic re-entered the room. He was holding a few pieces of paper on a clipboard, his eyes scanning the contents, then up at him.

"You already talked to zhe officials, ja?" Medic asked in a straight tone, like it was a question he had to ask everyone. Lawrence shook his head, Heinrich's eyes meeting with his in surprise, but mostly annoyance. He let out a loud hiss, running his hand through his hair.

"_Idiots. _Zhey need organization skills," Lawrence watched him pace, shaking his head. "I'm sure Lucian talked to you about general things?"

"I think so?" Scout replied.

"I don't know how zis type of talk goes. You should have gone to them first," He reverted his attention to him. "If zhey didn't, it must mean you're clear. But if you leave you'll be shot down or, deactivated."

_Deactivated?_

He didn't want to chat long, so he nodded at the end of each sentence. Lawrence was sure he zoned out half way into him talking, watching his mouth move when he held out his hand. Held out his hand-

"Lawrence," Medic cleared his throat loudly, gripping his limp wrist and wrapping a paper band around. "So zhey know you aren't a stranger…"

"So they won't, ya know, shoot me down?" Lawrence snickerd, looking at the purple wrist band, it almost seemed like a totally foreign color. He rotated the paper, losing interest when the Medic began to talk again, about basic things.

_No hiding things, environmental obstruction, killing if you see other people, no…_

He couldn't focus on this guy.

* * *

The summer heat was thick, Lawrence already beginning to sweat underneath his clothes. He was already roaming around the base, taking interest into looking inside of each section carefully, noticing they were exactly mirrored to destroy any advantages.

Scout was looking through the RED base, kicking around some small rocks that had made it inside from the dusty wind, coughing a bit when the wind hit him in the face with dirt. He had passed another member a little bit ago, another male who seemed to look about as young as him, wearing clothes that made him look more like a _rich snob_. He wouldn't have minded him if he hadn't shot him such a cold look when they passed in the BLU halls. It struck him when he was walking across the bridge that that was probably another Scout, making it impossible for them to be on the same team and probably friends.

Lawrence made his way up another pair of wooden stairs which creaked in protest under him. He spotted out of the corner of his eye in front of a locked shutter, an old ladder that lead upward to a hatch. He was standing in front of the shutter, barely noticing the ladder. Curiosity picked up him since there wasn't an exact ladder replica on the other side, Scout decided to head to them without any real reason. When he began to climb, the ladder shook, being a lot more worn out and dainty seeming than the stairs. Lawrence pushed on the heavy wood to open the hatch, causing dust to fall into his eyes and inhaling it. He coughed violently, letting out a small groan and poked his head above to look inside.

It was mostly filled with boxes, coated in more dust and dirt. It was dark, but not dreary, small slits of light melting inside from the roof and the front which was boarded shut except for a small slit that looked like it could be a window a Sniper. He climbed in from the hole , entering the roost and walked around. It was small, but a little spacious, if anything it could be seen merely as a storage room. He wondered what was in the crates, but he shook the thought off and walked to the window, the floor loudly creaking with each step.

It definitely seemed old, and at one point used. On the wall there was small marks of damage, like someone carving marks into the wood. Beside the carvings, the walls seemed to be littered with random gunshot holes, which he traced his finger over and shivered about thinking one day he would probably add to the collection of damage on the walls.

He didn't know who used this area first, but everywhere else seemed to be cleaned and mostly fixed except this room. He doubted they would overlook a roost, unless someone tried to hide it.

Something behind him had made a noise, causing him to jump and quickly turn around meeting his gaze with the familiar grey eyes from before. Only this time his eyes were covered by dark yellow sunglasses which were shining from the light that peaked in from the holes in the room. He could still see the color through the glasses, and this time instead of the intense stare, they both gave each other an awkward expression.

The older male looked away first, searching the room quietly, but Lawrence cut off his look. Scout cleared his throat, causing the other male to dart a quick look at him, his expression becoming more annoyed that he was up there. He didn't want to be on bad terms, so Lawrence shifted his weight onto the other side and leaned up against the farthest wall with crossed arms to seem casual.

"So… you must be the sniper?" Lawrence furrowed his eyebrows at how stupid the question had sounded, and from the look of the snipers expression twisting downward, he half expected to be slapped in the face.

"Yeah." He sighed slowly, stepping away from the hatch door to fully enter, Scout noticing that the other male was surprisingly tall. They both looked away, the air beginning to fall heavier in Lawrences lungs. He tried to take a large breath of air, only tasting musky dust.

"Its hot." Lawrence mumbled, Snipers eyebrows raising.

" 'ts summer after all." His tone sounded more forced, heading to one of the crates and wiped the dust off before leaning on it. As the silence fell again, Lawrence watched him attempt to see if the crate would open but he failed. Something inside of him told him it would be better to try to befriend him, maybe one day it could help on the field.

"I'm Lawrence." He stretched out his hand, eyeing the older male. He looked nervous at first, distant from the Bostanian as he tried to process what the Scout was attempting to do. Sniper didn't know if going by the first name was a thing or not, but it wasn't something in his culture. He was never all too fond by going by his first name, let alone giving it out. In the end, he stared at Lawrence and let out his held breath, taking his hand to firmly shake.

"Jack," He replied simply, standing up straight. "Don't know if we're s'possed to go by our job name, not all too fond with goin' by Jack."

"Jack." Lawrence echoed. Jack nodded at him like he was a child after being annoyed by his request. "I'm Lawrence."

"That seems like a huge dumb hassle, learnin' all these names and goin' by _job _names. How did 'ya even get here?" Scout yawned, shifting in his position. Jack furrowed his eyebrows again, crossing his arms.

"I just snipe a lot." The Sniper said, watching scout repeat '_just snipe a lot' _under his breath like what he said was amusing.

"I won't pry, long as you don't do the same with me," Jack watched Lawrence quietly. "How about we be friends?" Lawrence was trying to break the ice, causing Jack to sit his weight on one of the crates and looking at him like he was dumb. The last thing Jack would have wanted from this was to make any friends, he did work alone and this one, well, he seemed way too noisy.

"Don't really do friends, mate."

"Oh come on, it'll be great, we could be like, partners in crime!"

"It really doesn't make sense. At all." Jack didn't feel much when Lawrence seemed to be frustrated and pouting. He knew as much as he did when it came to their jobs, but if he was going to be sniping, he was going to be alone and focused.

"Think about it like this, oi'm up here, you'll be down there, it really doesn't make sense."

"Yeah yeah, I can get that, b'what about ceasefire?" Scout leaned forward.

"No. Is there goin' t'be a ceasefire?" Jack raised his head, keeping calm while the other fidgeted in place. He watched Lawrence get a quizzical look. _There had to be, right? Not every single battle can go on 24/7 without stop,_ Scout thought to himself.

"So what?"

The Sniper narrowed his eyes once more, staring him down. He didn't understand why he was being so pushy with being friends, so he figured he wouldn't be able to shake him off. Jack sighed slowly, forced friendships usually fail.

"If ya' want t' try."

"Really? You really wouldn't care?" Scout smiled.

"I don't care." Lawrence lit up, nodding slowly. It seemed that it would probably get lonely, even if Jack seemed like a party killer, he figured he was putting on a facade. It did excite Lawrence a little that he was getting a '_friend_' friend, someone he could talk to besides Tavish, he realized even with his attitude, he craved some sort of closer friend.

"Ya know, we'll probably be on th' same team, so we could like, work together. I 'unno how yet, but i'll figure somethin' out." Lawrence stated, only receiving a confused shrug from the Sniper.

"And… If we aren't on th' same team, we could like, have a pact t' not kill eachother. Yeah?" Lawrence watched Jack with hope. It all seemed to be a bad idea, Jack wasn't all too fond with being grouped up together with everyone knowing they were going to be split into teams later, it all seemed just bad. Unorganized choice making.

Jack shrugged slowly, but this time with more thought to it. The shrug not being bored but not actually knowing, if they did make it on different teams and they didn't kill each other, he could only guess it would end up bad for the both of them.

"I…Don't know." Jack adjusted his glasses, looking at the floor.

"I don't think there are camera's up here...There are around th' base but up here I think we're in th' clear." Lawrence glanced around the bare room, receiving an uncomfortable look from Jack. They both knew that what he brought up was most likely taboo.

Making pacts away from the camera's, promises of remorse.

Lawrence took a large breath, only tasting the heavy heat mixed with the dust of the room. Within the small slithers of sunlight he could see the buildup of dust floating in the room, the weather only becoming more thick as the sun rose higher. He was able to see more of Jack though the small traces of light that laid against his body, rolling against the sunglasses. Lawrence was able to tell the situation was awkward for him, he didn't seem to be used to social situations.

"I don't know." Jack replied again, this time more exhausted, fidgeting with his hands.

"It can't be so bad. Here, if we do, I won't kill ya, I don't care if ya kill me but think of it like killin' in cold blood." Lawrence said in a more cocky tone, but he received a pitiful look from Jack. He seemed to be giving in and waved his hand, nodding slowly. Scout guess it was mostly because he just wanted to end the conversation.

"Fine. _We'll see._" Jack forced his gaze away from Lawrences smile. The younger male stood up straight, heading to the entrance of the hatch while Jack followed with his eyes, placing the first step on the ladder, and stopping and turned to look at him.

"Trainings in a couple'a days, yea?" Lawrence asked, Jack nodding slowly. Satisfied, Scout turned and took another step before hesitating and looked up in his direction, sitting on the crate watching him curiously. He didn't mean to make it look like he was trying to find something to talk about with Jack, but the topics came into his mind last minute.

"'lright. Is everyone training then?" Jack shifted, trying to get a better look at him. Scout tried to remember the talk he had with Heinrich the day he came, but he didn't remember him bringing up that others would be training with him as well. Unless they were all learning different skills, it seemed practical to group them together...

"No. I think some of us are only training- Like our trainers being late?" Jack answered again with another shrug. He watched Lawrence nod slowly, looking down the ladder, then to Jack again, waving awkwardly. Jack tried to return the small wave, forcing out a smile which all seemed too weird. Lawrence laughed, shaking his head as he turned away from the sniper, heading downward slowly.

"I'll see ya at trainin' tomorrow, Jack."

"You too, mate." Jack kept his eyes on his head as he stepped off of the ladder, raising an eyebrow as he peered over the edge to see if he was still lingering. Satisfied that he was finally alone, he relaxed a bit and ran his hand over the dust on the crate next to him, then doing it with several others. He didn't remember seeing a roost on the BLU side, which seemed a little convenient for whoever was on RED. He just hoped that Lawrence wouldn't cause trouble for him.

The last thing he needed was to be distracted on the job.

_Critiques and reviews happily welcomed. I don't own tf2 or the characters._

-Mick


	4. Australia

The third morning was the only morning where Lawrence actually woke up without needing Jane to pound on his door again. He seemed to nearly bounce out of his bed when his alarm went off, realizing that even on four hours asleep, he had enough energy to run the whole day. The fact that training was that _very day _kept him nervous, butterflies swarming his stomach.

Lawrence threw open his door, being face to face with a taller male, Jane, his hand stretched out ready to knock. Satisfaction twitched onto his face, both sharing the same emitted a loud chuckle and stepped over to let him through.

"You may have kept me up all night but I ain't missin' today, Jane," Lawrence beamed, sauntering by as Jane let out a large huff.

"Everyone is hung over, i'm surprised _you_ of all people would be up and at it." Jane grunted, crossing his arms. The day before was a _big_ day. It was announced that there would be no new members from then on, and after the newest members were trained they would be able to begin the grouping process. Nobody knew what the 'grouping process' was going to be, but when Pauling came in to announce, everyone seemed to go along with the idea.

"_Yae know what 'ah can't stand?" a group of 17 sat in a circle, clutching bottles of alcohol firmly in their palms as they listened to Tavish. Everyone seemed to be in an unfamiliar calm state, where nobody talked and everyone could speak their mind. Tavish leaned in, his eyes tracing over the crowds. "Stalemate fighters." _

_Lawrence sat to his left, the term twisted in his mind and confusing him at first. From the way the crowd smiled, he guessed that these so called 'stalemate fighters' must have been bad. Lucian sat to Tavish's right, but he noticed how uncomfortable he started to look, and especially the way Heinrich shifted in his seat and took a large swig from his drink._

"_If i eva meet one of them _bloody _stalemates, i'll punch 'em right in the nose!" The crowd raised their bottles, agreeing loudly. Lawrence remembered when Lucian told him of the so called stalemate, the battle that lead everyone here, but to him it seemed like they were labeling for no reason. _

"_I agree, what scum." Lucian shrugged, placing his bottle next to his side. Heinrich suddenly gave the spy an icy look, closing his blue eyes. The medic didn't like the current topic, in fact, it was starting to remind him that the alcohol was making his stomach sick. Even after everyone started to laugh and chat about other topics, Lawrence still couldn't help but notice that Lucian was more stiff than usual._

_He reminded himself to ask him about it the next day. _

To his disappointment, he wasn't ever able to spot Jack, he was probably hiding away in his room. He was tempted to find him but he let him have his alone time. Lawrence _did _spot him once when he walked into the room for a cup of coffee. Jack looked mostly annoyed, especially when Tavish threw his arms over Jack's shoulders drunk, mumbling how it had forever since he last drank. Lawrence didn't know why, but he was mostly surprised to find out Tavish had been sober for 4 years, who knows if he'd keep up with it when everything started. They all needed a drink.

"Yeah well I ain't a freakin' lightweight like all of 'ya," Lawrence grinned, "I didn't make a point t' drink a bunch, actually. " Jane looked doubtful.

"You seem like the type that would get hammered, son." They both share a small laugh. Jane turned away, taking loud steps to the other doors next to his to wake everyone up. Before he pounded on the door next to his, he hesitated and looked in Lawrence's direction.

"Good luck, I hope they train you right." Jane saluted to him- mostly to joke, and Lawrence returned the gesture before heading to the mess hall. With quick steps, he noticed somebody in front of him in the hallways that he immediately recognized as Tavish. He seemed to be walking slowly, slumped over and his hand rubbing the back of his head. When Lawrence made it to his side, he tilted downward to get a good look at his face, eyelids drooping and mouth curved downward. At the sight of the scout, Tavish flinched and forced his best smile.

_This guys hangover looks like hell, _Lawrence thought to himself, wondering about the times when his mother would wake up with her makeup smeared from the night before, wiping her face and muttering to to one of his brothers to make breakfast.

"Aye feel like i'm dyin'," He mumbled, not trying to fix his posture and accepting the fate of a terrible mood. When they made it to the mess hall, Lawrence noticed the amount of people eating was not as large as it usually way. Even hungover, Tavish went for the coffee and food, repeating the same schedule as the couple of days before.

Lawrence found out the same day how large the building actually was. The whole thing seemed to be like a large school, with hallways and doors to go outside but they all seemed to be fenced in. While he doubted he was ever going to try to escape, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable staring at the back of Lucian's head as he walked forward.

The spy had found him when he was eating food. The message wasn't distressed, but mostly rushed that his trainer arrived the night before when everyone was partying. The last thing he expected was to start so early in the morning, as pumped as he was, he realized quickly that he was feeling a little sluggish from the small hours of sleep.

So, he had to follow Lucian to where the training grounds were in the building. The walk ended abruptly when down the open hallways, he turned to a simple door and opened it. Inside, a whiteboard was at the very end, next to it another simple door. In the middle of the room, there was a large circled table with small chairs around. Inside, Lawrence noticed there was already a seated male in one of the chairs, leaning back lazily with his eyes staring at another figure in the front. Obviously, nothing serious was going on but them simply talking, the other person in the front crossing his arms with a smile.

Both of their heads perked up at the sound of the door opening, the male sitting turned his head, Lawrence recognized him as Jack. He _didn't _the other person standing in front, his build seemed to be a bit slimmer, a little taller than Lawrence's height. His chocolate eyes moved over Lawrence and immediately turning sour at the sight of Lucian. His blonde hair was once cut short but he noticed it probably hadn't been trimmed in a while, freckles littering his pale skin. He had a round face with a short nose that tilted upward at the end, being slightly flushed alongside his cheeks from the heat. As awfully young as he looked, he could tell stress wore at his young features.

"Oh, hi. We were just talking," He spoke in a watered down British accent. Lawrence gave a small wave to the person in front, Jack and Lawrence acknowledging each other. "I'm Alan, sorry." Alan briskly walked over to Lawrence, Lucian still standing in the door. They shook hands quickly, before Alan headed to the door to quietly talk with the Spy. Lucian still stood in the door frame as they talked, hearing through the mumbles where the other two where.

"I can go find them." Lucian suggested, Alan giving a small nod.

"Yeah, I'd appreciate it," He closed the door when Lucian stepped back, keeping his hand on the handle. As Lawrence took a seat and kept his stare on the back of Alan's head, he noticed that he seemed to hesitate. Alan turned around with a fake smile, looking at Lawrence. "Scout?"

"Yeah. You're trainin' both of us?" Lawrence furrowed his eyebrows. Alan laughed lightly, taking a seat at the head of the table where a coffee mug sat, lightly staining the white table in brown.

"No, heavens no. I don't know the first thing about sniping. His trainer," He motioned to Jack with his thumb, "Should be coming in soon or later. Haven't met him yet, _but, _i assume you'll have fun."

"'s that sarcasm?" Jack tilted his head. The Brit forced another smile through his white teeth.

"No, sort of? I didn't catch your name," Alan, trying to make the tone of the conversation lighter, shifted in his seat.

"Lawrence."

"Lawrence, where are you from?" The chair was awfully uncomfortable. He leaned back.

"Why does it matter?"

"Is that type of question too personal? I can give a good guess from your accent, i'm sure you can guess where i'm from."

Lawrence felt a smile creep up. "Yeah, you're British."

"_English_, to be exact," Jack watched the exchange, taking note of the topic. Alan had easily guessed where his home was, not that he really cared. It was useless being cryptic about where you were from when your accent gave you away.

"Just Boston," Lawrence eyed the coffee mug in front of Alan. "Massachusetts."

"I see, how is that-" Alan was cut off when the door closest to him next to the white board opened quickly, in rushing another person. His skin was darker than the English man and his over all height and muscle mass a bit larger. His hair was dark brown, sloppily brushed through but a few strands stuck to his forehead. His facial features were a lot more prominent, having a straight nose and a bright green eyes that bounced off from the dark color of his hair. He looked more tired, lines already under his eyes and slightly sheepish. The color seemed to drain from Alan's face as he got a good look at him, Lawrence couldn't help but notice the look Alan received back.

"You're-" Alan began.

"Daniel. Sniper, you're Alan, thats what they told me," Daniel took in a deep breath, he looked like he had rushed here. "I fell asleep, sorry." This time, Lawrence couldn't place his accent. Jack perked up in his chair, a little more interested in the situation now that there was another sniper in the room.

"I'm Daniel, Sniper. I don't know you, I don't know if you know me," He repeated as he glanced at Alan who was refusing to make eye contact. "But that doesn't matter. I haven't trained anyone in…Years. Should we start right now?"

"No, you have to wait for the other sniper…" Alan narrowed his eyes, straightening his posture in his chair. "You're Dutch." He added, nearly beaming that he was certain he placed the accent correctly. He received a small nod from the other sniper, as if he was answering a question from a child, his eyes narrowing into small slits.

"Well i'm going to start without him, follow me." Daniel mumbled, his green eyes rolling over Alan once more before exiting the way he entered. Jack gave a bizarre glance at Alan if he should follow, Alan motioning with his head that he should tag along. Lawrence watched his friend hurry after Daniel, shutting the door quietly and suddenly the air became less heavy. It didn't help the fact that he didn't know what to say to Alan who was looking up at the ceiling, trying to think over the situation. It almost seemed like he knew him, Alan did seem like he was the type to be friendly to people he just met but that was brutally _awkward._

"Do you know that guy?" Lawrence broke the silence, watching Alan's frown. He tore his gaze away from the ceiling and gave him a sharp look, taking a large sip from his cold coffee.

"Does it matter?" He sounded robotic.

"I was just askin', you seemed to look a little, uh, uncomfortable." Lawrence slowly shrugged.

"Uncomfortable," He echoed, nodding slowly with a chuckle. " Well, to answer your question, technically no. Snipers, Lawrence, are very scary. Especially good ones." Alan folded his hands together.

"You two were on teams before you started to do this, yeah?" Lawrence asked.

"That's correct. On the same team? No. We don't work for the same company."

"What did you work for?" Lawrence watched Alan stiffen in his chair, his trainer was starting to get irked by his curiosity.

"Does not matter. Listen, how about after we get to know each other, i'll answer your questions. For now, lets just keep it to a minimum of, one more question."

"Oh," Lawrence chewed on his lip. It's not like he wanted to pounce questions on him, he was just confused- _curious? _Curious about the situations, about where he was or what was even going on. "Why did he say he hasn't trained in years? Aren't ya trainers?"

"Oh. Yes, and no? We both…." Alan thought through his vocabulary for the correct words. "Fought. But we were pushed off, working for the same company but...they called us in with a weeks notice." Within seconds after his answer, the door behind Lawrence opened quickly, the same man that gave him the cold glance on the field stepping in.

So he was right.

"Ah, hi, you must be the other scout in training." Alan cut himself off and stood to shake his hand. The other scout being addressed, was taller than the both of them, light brown hair trimmed neatly and brushed to the side. His skin was a bit tanner than his, but clear, his whole outer appearance screamed _flawless _and that bugged him.

"Max," He took his hand politely and nodded his head. As normal as the same sounded, it rung in the back of his mind, something to keep tight. As they exchanged names, Lawrence watched the look appear on Max's face again when he glanced over. His expression twisted into a single sentence.

_Try me, I dare you._

As if Alan could sense the tense air between the two, he clapped his hands together and took in a deep breath. "Lets start with training, yes?"

Alan was mostly focusing on him at the moment, after a couple questions of figuring out who knew more, they all found out Lawrence was the only one that hadn't ever handled a real gun. Or at least, a gun that had major recoil.

The training room was simple: Large open spaces with targets, cardboard cut outs with painted red circles on the middle, and large windows at the top. As plain as the training room was, he figured it was how it was used that made it useful, he doubted they would waste their time mainly shooting at some cardboard cut out. Alan set Max off to begin running laps outside, which he said was not fenced off but there were markers that set where they should and shouldn't go. Outside was used a lot for the Snipers for long distance, anyway.

When they first started, Alan told Lawrence to wait in the middle of the room when he wandered behind a door, exiting in his hand, a small pistol. Lawrence doubted that was going to be the main gun he was going to use, but he didn't want to complain.

"This, is your secondary," Alan held the gun up, his index finger lightly resting on the trigger. He looked the pistol over in his hand, a nostalgic expression appearing on his features. He clicked off the safety. "Not as lethal as your scattergun, but that has a good kick to it. The spread on this gun is a little weird, since you don't really have the time to stop and zoom in like you see cops doing." Alan flashed a smile, slowly walking over and handing him the gun.

At first, the cold metal startled him when it touched his palm. Lawrence made sure to keep a gentle grip on it, watching Alan back off in case he accidentally shot it, and hopefully not in his direction. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't that hard to hold the pistol, and after a couple of test shots at a target, he found out that his aim was terrible. It didn't throw Lawrence off from wanting to learn more, Alan had to walk behind him to fix his aim, his arms stretched forward and one eye squinting at the target ahead.

"Relax," Alan mumbled softly, his hands pushing his arms a bit down. The crack of the pistol rang in the room with each shot, and after having to change the magazine with another quick tutorial from Alan, one of the bullets grazed the side of the cardboard cut out, which was more than he expected to do that day.

"I mean, hey, I actually freakin' hit it." Lawrence beamed, letting his arms fall to his side. Alan nodded and returned the smile, patting him. He could tell with each shot his trainer seemed to be more and more strained, possibly from the sound. If anything, he could relate to him, his ears were starting to ring even if the gun was so small.

Alan's hands reached for the pistol, taking it back and placing it on a table beside them. He chewed into his bottom lip, running his hand through his already messy hair.

"I haven't worked with my main gun in a while, about a year, its been." Alan's smile faltered only slightly. "This new machine Heinrich is building, it's, life in a box honestly" Lawrence traced him with his blue eyes when he went behind the door again, this time in the brits hands, he held a larger gun. It was double barreled, slightly outdated but recently shined and polished, Lawrence wondered if he was ever going to be able to shoot that _thing_. Alan held the gun gently, one finger on the trigger and his other holding it at the base. He studying the flawless metal, reminiscent awe, the nostalgia made him chuckle hoarsely.

They exchanged nervous looks, Alan mostly looking a bit confused on how to teach gun control, or how to teach someone else on how to use the type of gun. When Alan shot the first bullet, Lawrence felt his ears starting to ring, the explosion of the gun catching him seriously off guard. It pushed back on Alan's grip, who was also caught unaware. He tried to flash a quick smile, mumbling that they _sure upgraded the thing _since he last used it.

This time, Alan spent more time talking about the gun instead of letting him use it. _It's double barreled, lever-action, shotgun. _A smile formed on Alans face talking about the gun, tracing his fingers up one of the barrels talking about the anatomy, and the polished wooden handle. It was slightly boring, gun control was something he didn't want to worry about, Lawrence just wanted to shoot. How to clean, or reloading, being careful about jamming, Alan felt a little stupid when he realized that even if he shot himself in battle it wouldnt matter since he had the respawn to rely on.

Fifteen minutes of talking about a gun. When Alan showed him how to correctly hold it, the first shot kicked him hard in the stomach, the recoil for sure leaving a bruise on his stomach. Lawrence didn't expect that type of reaction from the gun, he was going to have to build more muscle mass to support the gun and not hurt himself more than the people being shot.

With the fourth shot at the ruined cardboard cut-out, Lawrence licked his lips and turned his head, Alan's expression bright with curiosity. Though he didn't mean to catch him off guard, his part of the training ended short when he asked about _them. _

_Who are the stalemate fighters?_

Now he stood with his feet in the dust, outside where the heat pricked at his skin. He was told to just run laps, _run laps around the cones of the whole area. Agility and stamina is a big part of your job, you always run around, you can never stop. You're going to have to seriously work on your aim or you'll never win. _He heard the echo of his words in his head.

Lawrence did feel a bit bad when Alan's facial expression twisted into a grimace when he asked, he hated the smirk Max gave him when they changed places. There wasn't a single fence around the area, only dust and dirt and nothing. Ahead, a few trees grew tall in the distance, he could see some targets, most likely for the snipers. With a crack of a gun from ahead, Lawrence dug his foot into the ground and started to run. The cones were spread out far, marking four corners.

One corner got close to a tree, nearly right under, straight ahead near the fences of the large building. From outside, he was surprised when it was confirmed that everything looked like a large prison campus. The third and fourth cone lead directly back to the training area. It didn't make it easy that he was inhaling dust and it was making his lungs hurt within his second lap, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. After lap four, he was starting to feel a bit tired and the pain in his stomach was starting to rise. The running through the dense heat made his muscles already feel weak, his pace slowing but he kept going.

He counted each time there was a shot in the air, it was definitely near the tree where the cones went near. One shot every 30 seconds, when he was reaching lap five, he quickened his steps to reach the tree, stepping over the cone barriers and slowed, smacking his hand against the bark.

He heaved, taking in a deep breath and coughed, straining to look up. He heard a shift in the tree, but he saw a person sitting comfortably in the middle, perked up on some of the branches, his hands holding a smaller version of a sniper rifle that looked something like a BB gun. At the realization there was somebody under him, the male turned and looked down.

Jack?

Lawrence wasn't able to see his eyes from under his yellow sunglasses, sweat from the humidity lined his forehead damply, even if he was in the shade. Jack bit into one of his lips, both locking eyes and staring as if they didn't know what to say. The spot made sense, but honestly, Jack looked stupid in his position.

"What's up, monkey?" Lawrence breathed heavily, taking a step back. Jack's lips twitched slightly, almost into a smile.

"What? You're goin' to kill my concentration." Jack grunted, turning away from Lawrence and put the rifle to his eye again, holding his breath as he aimed, pulling the trigger. Lawrence looked around, making sure to see if they were being watched or if any of the trainers were around.

"Rude, where your trainer?" He asked, he was nowhere to be seen, those snipers seemed so sketchy.

"'duno, said he ain't really the type to do one on one trainin', that I should work on long distance for now. Don't get a good vibe from him, maybe 'es just rusty," Jack let the gun lower.

"He gunna teach 'ya though? Seems like he's just lettin' you down."

"He _better._" Jack looked down at him again. It's not like Jack doubted his trainer, Daniel at that moment he seemed awfully silent, nearly skittish, talking quickly. He rushed off to go talk to somebody after he gave him his directions. Jack still wondered where the other fellow sniper was. Jack jumped out of his thoughts when he felt the tree shake a bit, letting go of the gun altogether when he realized the Bostonian was trying to get into the tree.

"What the bloody hell are 'ya doin' mate?!" Jack hissed, trying to move over when Lawrence awkwardly found his way up to him. The tree wasn't tall but it was apparent that Lawrence wasn't good at climbing tree's and had no idea how to sit in one.

"Shut up, I just wanted to join!" Lawrence replied.

"Shouldn't you be runnin'? That's what you and your little scout buddy was doin' twenty minutes ago." Jack reached over to his bottle, half filled with water. He gave it over to Lawrence, who looked grateful and snatched it from his hands, taking a large gulp.

"Yeah, but i can run whenever i want. Not like i don't know how to run, i'm like, the freakin' fastest." Jack nodded slowly and felt a smile creep up. He went back to aiming the gun, feeling slightly irked at the fact that he was just blatantly staring at him. He wasn't trying to be nonchalant or anything, his eyes were burning holes into the side of his face. He aimed again, letting his finger press down on the trigger. When it hit the target, Lawrence leaned forward with his eyes narrowed like he was trying to see, shaking his head.

"That ain't your real sniper rifle, is it?" Jack blinked at the question that broke the silence. He raised the gun and tilted it around to show the younger male.

"No, Daniel didn't want the targets broken 'cause it makes it hard to replace 'em when they're out there. It's an airsoft gun. BB." Jack sighed. Using a different type of gun messed up his aim a bit, but he was already getting used to the recoil and how accurate the aim was. Reality check for the gun: The aim was terrible.

"Did that other scout try to talk to ya?" Lawrence asked.

"Nah- Well yes, once. Just asked who I was, 'you that dang snipah?'" He tried to mimic Max's accent, while Lawrence's accent was larger and more obvious, he figured Max was somewhere around New York. "I just said, yeah, beat it kid. Aint a nice one, thats for sure. Reminds me of the rich kids." He sounded a bit bored, but Lawrence nodded in agreement.

"Don't like 'em at all." They both smiled. At least they had something in common, disliking the same guy. "'ey, you seem like you're pretty good." He added. Jack shifted in the tree and looked at his rifle again.

"Why i'm here, mate." Another silence fell between them, so Lawrence wiggled himself down, feeling his body fall and his hands gripping onto a branch so he was able to easily lower himself to the ground. Jack looked curious.

"Not that good, betcha can't shoot me!" Lawrence challenged him, it wasn't like BB guns could actually kill people if you were shot by them. He doubted he would even be hit, it would be small pain, maybe a little bit of swelling on his shoulder if he managed to hit him. Jack looked uncomfortable, shaking his head.

"I'll hurt 'ya, kid." He cleared his throat. "I'll get reprimanded."

"Nah, besides, I don't give a shit 'bout gettin' hurt. Think I can't take a little bit of pain? I grew up on the streets fightin', I came out of my ma with my fists up." Lawrence raised his fists to show him, indeed, he had fists.

"You sure?" Jack chewed onto the bottom of his lip, relaxing his position to get ready to aim. "you can't outrun a sniper, y'know."

"It'll be practice. When I put my hand up and start runnin, shoot. I'll stop at the last target."

Lawrence gave him a thumbs up, kicking his foot down and began to run near the targets. When he got close enough to the first row, he slowed down and looked down all the targets, holding his hand up to ready he was going to begin. Lawrence took in a large breath of air and sprinted, trying to run faster than anything he was ever used to, even if his lungs protested at the sudden surge of exercise.

He nearly felt free, at the end of the targets was when he would stop, but he felt a flash of pain on the side of his head that knocked him over. It cut into his senses and within a second, he felt the air around him and his face hitting the dirt.

At the sight of the body dropping, Jack raised his head and put his hands up, cheering to himself.

"Too slow!" He yelled out, feeling a rush in his body for the first time a long time. He jumped out of the tree, bringing his rifle with him, a smile peeled on his face and waited for him to raise. He was going to boast about this for days to him.

It surprised him when he didn't actually get up, he just laid there. Jack quickly checked the gun to make sure it wasn't anything lethal, just a BB gun, as powerful as it was, the pellet should have slowed down enough to not do severe harm to him. Jack probably hit him in the head, hopefully not his temple. He had to force his body to jog out to where he laid like a rock, slowly stepping closer.

Suddenly, Lawrence's body rolled over, his hand slapped against a spot near his cheek, awfully near the temple. Lawrence groaned. He was taking in deep breaths, part of his face covered in dirt from falling, pain across his features. Jack took in a deep breath, looking around to see if anyone could help but everything was desolate, empty. He knelled down, shaking his head.

"Told ya this would happen…" Jack tried to humor him slightly, he didn't get much of a reaction. He scooped the males smaller body into his arms, lifting him up with a bit of trouble, the weight surprising him. He didn't expect someone so skinny to actually weigh that much, even if he was technically dead weight. He kept the hand on the wound, but when Jack smacked away his hand, the area was swollen red, no blood, no skin tearing.

That's hopeful.

He had a bit of trouble walking half a mile it seemed, back to the training grounds. He pushed open the door with his shoulder, walking in through a different door so he didn't startle Alan and the other scout. He nearly forgot where Heinrich's lab was, eventually he found it. He passed one member, Jane, looking concerned as they passed but didn't say a word. He figured training must have done something to everyone because he only shot him a worried look but kept his mouth shut.

He was able to bring him into Heinrich's office, the medic almost dropping everything in his arms when he sat Lawrence down on the bed. With all the pain, Lawrence couldn't hear much but yelling in German. Something about "attacking" him and quick words in an Australian accent about a bet. He could have sworn out of the corner of his eye, he was somebody sitting in a chair that looked awfully like Daniel, they stood up and followed behind Heinrich.

If anything, it proved to Jack that Lawrence wasn't as bad as he put him out to be. He'd need to apologize profusely when he was able to respond. When medic came over to shine a bright light in his eyes, telling him to follow it's direction, Lawrence sighed softly.

His eyesight went black.

**Perfect? No, but it's the best I have. Trainers are for keeping the story along, not major characters, but they do keep the story going. **

**-Mick**


End file.
